The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah

The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah brings together an interdisciplinary and broad-ranging international community of scholars to discuss aspects of the history and continued life of the Jerusalem Temple in Western culture, from biblical times to the present.

This volume is the fruit of the inaugural conference of the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, which convened in New York City on May 11-12, 2008 and honors Professor Louis H. Feldman, Abraham Wouk Family Professor of Classics and Literature at Yeshiva University. Feldman is the doyen of modern scholarship on Judaism in the Greco-Roman period, focusing on the writings of Flavius Josephus. A beloved mentor to generations of Yeshiva University students and of scholars across the globe, Professor Feldman has taught at YU since 1955.

"The articles are consistently of high quality. This book is highly recommended for any academic collection in Jewish studies."Jim Rosenbloom, Judaica Librarian, Brandeis University; President, Association of Jewish Libraries

Biographical note

Steven Fine is Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University in New York City, where he focuses upon interrelationships between the literature of ancient Judaism, art and archaeology. Dr. Fine holds a doctorate in Jewish history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an MA in art history from the University of Southern California and a BA in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Table of contents

Words of CelebrationRichard M. Joel, Yeshiva University
1. The Inauguration of the Tabernacle Service at SinaiGary A. Anderson, University of Notre Dame
2. God as Refuge and Temple as Refuge in the PsalmsShalom Holtz, Yeshiva University
3. “See, I Have Called by the Renowned Name of Bezalel, Son of Uri…”:
Josephus on the Biblical “Architect.”Steven Fine, Yeshiva University
4. The Temple Scroll: A Utopian Temple Plan from Second Temple TimesLawrence H. Schiffman, New York University
5. From Toleration to Destruction: Roman Policy and the Jewish TempleMiriam Pucci Ben Zeev, Ben Gurion University
6. Notes on the Virtual Reconstruction of the Herodian Period Temple and CourtyardsJoshua Schwartz and Yehoshua Peleg, Bar Ilan University
7. Envisioning the Sanctuaries of Israel —The Academic and Creative Process of Archaeological Model MakingLeen Ritmeyer, Trinity Southwest University
8. Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction: The Temple in Pesiqta RabbatiRivka Ulmer, Bucknell University
9. The Mosaic Tabernacle as the Only Legitimate Sanctuary: The Biblical Tabernacle in SamaritanismReinhardt Pummer, University of Ottawa
10. Why Is There No Zoroastrian Central Temple?: A Thought ExperimentYaakov Elman, Yeshiva University
11. Rival Claims: Christians, Muslims and the Jerusalem Holy PlacesFrank E. Peters, New York University
12. Imagining the Temple in Late Medieval Spanish AltarpiecesVivian B. Mann, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
13. Images of the Temple in Sefer ha-BahirJonathan Dauber, Yeshiva University
14. Interpreting “the Resting of the Shekhinah”: Exegetical Implications of the Theological Debate among Maimonides, Nahmanides and Sefer ha-HinnukhMordechai Z. Cohen, Yeshiva University
15. Remembering the Temple: Commemoration and Catastrophe in Ashkenazi CultureJacob J. Schacter, Yeshiva University
16. The Temple of Jerusalem from the Renaissance to the EnlightenmentMatt Goldish, Ohio State University
17. “Jerusalem Rebuilt”: The Temple in the Fin-de-siècle Zionist ImaginationJess Olson, Yeshiva University
18. Avi Yonah’s Model of Second Temple Jerusalem and the Development of Israeli Visual CultureMaya Balakirsky Katz, Touro College
19. Jerusalem during the First and Second Temple Periods: Recent Excavations and Discoveries On and Near the Temple MountAnn Killebrew, Pennsylvania State University
20. Digging the Temple Mount: Archaeology and the Arab-Israeli Conflict from the British Mandate to the PresentRobert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University

In Fighting over the Bible Isaac Kalimi explores the roots of the conflicts among Jews and between Jews, Christians, and Muslims regarding their interpretations of Jewish Scripture, as well as the rich new exegetical and theological approaches that grew from these controversies.

In Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, Tyson L. Putthoff combines contemporary theory and sound exegesis to understand early Jewish beliefs about how the human self reacts ontologically in God’s presence.

Medieval Midrash: The House for Inspired Innovation is the first treatment of this curious genre. Illuminating matters of historicity and origin with translations of six Solomon texts, Mehlman and Limmer address questions regarding Medieval Midrash and the need for creative religious expression.

This collection honors Professor John T. Townsend through fresh essays on the interpretation of the common Jewish and Christian Scripture – the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament – as well as its two off-shoots, Rabbinic Judaism and the New Testament interpretation and Jewish-Christian relations.

Alan J. Avery-Peck, College of the Holy Cross, Craig A. Evans, Houston Baptist University and Jacob Neusner, Bard College

Top scholars of early Christianity and Judaism consider methodological issues, earliest Christianity’s Judaic setting, Gospel studies, and the emergence of later Christianity. These essays honor Bruce Chilton, recognizing his seminal contribution to the study of earliest Christianity in its...

In Jews and Christians in Denmark Martin Schwarz Lausten investigates how the antijudaistic attitudes in Church and society changed starting around 1100. While some anti-Semitic movements arose later, 7,000 Danish Jews were able to escape to Sweden with Christian assistance during the German...

Herbert Basser in The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions utilizes his mastery of Jewish writings to navigate the agenda of this enigmatic Gospel. He propounds numerous novel suggestions, while Marsha Cohen’s editing gives us a highly accessible text.

Michael C. Nelson, Queens College of the City University of New York. Volumes Edited by J.A. Overman, D.N. Schowalter, and M.C. Nelson

Volume One of The Temple Complex at Horvat Omrit examines the surviving architecture of the three Roman period temple phases newly excavated sanctuary at the archaeological site of Omrit in northern Israel.